Video Games, Geography and

Video games have only recently attracted attention from human geographers. Unlike other forms of popular media such as cinema, literature, or television, video games offer a highly interactive and experiential virtual world. It is this “world-hood” or “spatiality” that is an attractive and fertile research ground for geographers. Embedded within each video game is a particular world that the player is able to manipulate and explore. These worlds can be realistic or a complete fantasy, as in many role-playing games. A virtual world or space is often necessary to limit and frame the activities possible within a game. For example, it would be difficult to program or code for a game in which absolutely anything were possible. In this sense, video games are particular milieus of activity, often highly repetitive. A productive engagement with video games would elicit not only important textual, social, and political themes but also how the virtual worlds within video games are constructed, including the types of freedoms and choices they offer to the player, as well as the “perspective” used (such as third person of first person).

The history of video games goes back to the flight simulators widely used during World War II. In 1962, the very first video game, “Space-war,” appeared. When Atari released the classic coin-operated Pong in 1972, video games started to become enormously popular. The introduction of the personal computer in the 1980s greatly enlarged the market for games played on machines such as the Atari 400 and the Commodore 64 and, later, Nintendo and Sega. Sony's PlayStation took this industry to a new level. By the late 1990s, Web-based games allowed for the creation of massively multiplayer online role-playing games, such as “World of Warcraft,” connecting millions of players worldwide via the Internet.

The video games industry is lucrative and expanding at an unprecedented rate. Two thirds of U.S. households play them regularly. In terms of annual sales, it now rivals the Hollywood film industry. Indeed, in recent years the mainstream status of video games has been confirmed with huge releases such as the highly anticipated and critically acclaimed “ Grand Theft Auto IV. “ During the first week of its April 2008 launch, the game grossed more than $500 million, smashing all previous video game and Hollywood records. Competitive video game events, once limited to a few networked computers in a basement, are now international events, such as the World Cyber Games. More surprising is that the average age of a video game player is currently 35 years, and she or he has been playing for more than 12 years according to the Entertainment Software Association.

The geography of the video game industry is an interesting and hybrid one, with the main centers of design and programming situated in North America, Japan, and Western Europe. This triregional structuring of the industry often leads to hegemonic representations but can also lead to blurred cultural and national identities. In the case of the former, video games that depict “wars” often do so from a narrow and single perspective. Games such as the hugely popular “Call of Duty” can be criticized for depicting simplified and racist enemies and allies. The hypersexual and hyper-violent content of video games is also a perennial source of controversy, although there is no clear consensus in the psychology literature on the impact that video games have on players. In this sense, video games are sites of ongoing culture wars. Yet despite these overcoded representations, there is always the possibility of experimentation within video games. Online games such as “World of Warcraft” allow users to “perform” alternate gender identities. In summary then, video games allow players to interact in virtual worlds that “spatialize” the social, political, and sexual dimensions we find in everyday life.

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